MORE NEWS, 1-18: THE NEW ENERGIES & NATURAL GAS; WIND NEEDS WIRES & PICKENS IS GONE; GEOTHERMAL DRILLING REGULATED; AZ BLDG SUN, WORRYING ABT WATER

THE NEW ENERGIES & NATURAL GAS
Wind, Solar, Natural Gas Experts Say They Need to Cooperate to Provide Clean Energy; Advocates for solar and wind power say they need to cooperate with natural gas producers over the next few years to reduce carbon emissions.
Sarah Lutz, January 16, 2010 (Kansas City InfoZine)

"Americans can expect more years of fossil fuel dependence before they can rely on renewable energy resources, industry representatives said…Natural gas is the clear choice to partner with the wind and solar industries as the two continue to grow. That's because it is produced domestically and has a much lower carbon output compared to coal or other fossil fuels, said American Wind Energy Association President Denise Bode.

"Bode was one of about 100 people representing a variety of energy producers attending the 6th Annual State of the Energy Industry meeting…She said her association has begun to work with the natural gas industry "as a team" to move toward cleaner energy…Bode said wind is not viable without subsidies or rules requiring that a certain amount of energy must come from renewable sources. Wind still makes sense because costs are stable, compared to those for fossil fuels. She said natural gas is a necessity now because it will take time for a regulatory structure for the renewable industry to be put into place."

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"Renewable energy industries need new and upgraded transmission lines and face challenges getting power to individual customers, said Solar Energy Industries Association President Rhone Resch…[It also needs] uniform national net metering and interconnection standards…

"Resch said solar is competitive in only three states - Hawaii, parts of California and in New York during peak power generation - even if they weren't getting subsidies. But to create jobs and scale up the industry, it needs more subsidies…[But even though] money from the stimulus package did not kick in until September…the industry did grow by 40 percent last year…In the next six years, manufacturing will grow and prices will come down, representing scale of manufacturing and competition…[Resch] predicted a 10 percent to 15 percent price decline this year."

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"Too much help for renewable resources or coal would hurt the natural gas industry, said Natural Gas Supply Association President Skip Horvath…[With] coal subsidies...[or a badly written] renewable portfolio standard…the group that loses out in the middle is natural gas…Representatives from the natural gas, coal, wind and solar industries agreed that to achieve the 83 percent decrease in carbon emissions by 2050 outlined in last year's stimulus package, national regulations, which could include a carbon tax, are necessary.

"A compromise would need to include offshore drilling and nuclear power for Republicans as well as cost containment measures to make it acceptable to moderate Democrats…[C]ompanies need one set of regulations, not separate federal and state rules [but]…Energy legislation may not pass this year due to the government's focus on health care, the weak economy, the elections and the country's wide political divide…"


WIND NEEDS WIRES & PICKENS IS GONE
Pickens Shelves Texas Wind Project
Keith Johnson, January 14, 2010 (Wall Street Journal)

"T. Boone Pickens, the oilman and clean-energy booster, shelved his massive wind-power project in Texas even as he stepped up his push to increase the use of natural gas for transportation.

"Cheap natural gas, the lack of electricity-transmission lines and the lingering credit crunch have combined to take the shine off large-scale renewable-energy projects, and those factors led Mr. Pickens to halve his $2 billion wind-turbine order with General Electric Co…"

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"…[I]n May 2008 [Pickens] announced plans for the biggest wind farm in the U.S., by amount of installed megawatts, to be located in the Texas panhandle. But [now he is cutting] his order with GE to 333 turbines from 667 machines and [will] use them for wind farms in Canada and Minnesota…That means the Pampa Wind Farm slated for north Texas—and postponed last summer until at least 2013—won't happen under current conditions."

"…Natural-gas prices have fallen sharply since the summer of 2008, when Mr. Pickens announced the big wind farm and the Pickens Plan, which calls for using natural gas to power big rigs, buses and other large vehicles to lessen U.S. dependence on foreign oil…Cheaper natural gas hurts wind farms, because cheaper gas makes gas-fired power plants a more attractive option for electricity generation...The effects of the credit crunch and the economic slowdown also slowed growth in the wider U.S. wind-power industry in 2009, after a record year for wind-power installations in 2008."

The short-term fate of New Energy could be in these price fluctuations. (click to enlarge)

"But less expensive natural gas, due to a boom in U.S. production over the last two years, has given new impetus to Mr. Pickens's transport plans. Mr. Pickens announced…a new national television ad calling on America to "wake up" to the cost of importing oil. He also called on Congress to pass pending legislation that would offer new incentives for greater use of natural gas in the heavy-duty transport fleet."

[T. Boone Pickens:] "It's off the table…If Texas makes more investments in transmission lines to carry power from the remote wind farm to towns and cities…we'll be back… You can't finance wind farms very well when natural gas is under $6 per million British thermal units…"


GEOTHERMAL DRILLING REGULATED
Geothermal Drilling Safeguards Imposed
James Glanz, January 15, 2010 (NY Times)

"The United States Energy Department, concerned about earthquake risk, will impose new safeguards on geothermal energy projects that drill deep into the Earth’s crust.

"The new policy is being instituted after a project in California that used the new technology was shut down by technical problems and encountered community opposition, federal documents indicate."

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"The project, by Seattle-based AltaRock Energy, would have fractured bedrock and extracted heat by digging more than two miles beneath the surface at a spot called the Geysers, about 100 miles north of San Francisco. The company ran into serious problems with its drilling and faced accusations from scientists and local residents that it had not been forthcoming enough about the earthquake risk. AltaRock denied those accusations.

"The documents…indicate that the Geysers project has run through $6 million in federal financing in several unsuccessful efforts to drill to the necessary depth…[By] early December…AltaRock had removed its drill rig from the site and informed the department that the project would be abandoned…"

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"[T]he department concluded that earthquakes that would have been set off by the AltaRock project would “not have a significant impact on the human environment.” [DOE] later awarded AltaRock $25 million to try a similar project at the Newberry Volcanic Monument near Bend, Ore…through the Obama administration’s economic stimulus package…

"Two seismic experts who read the documents said the message about the perils and potential of geothermal energy was unclear. But…the new standards were a welcome development…Among the new safeguards are requirements that projects monitor ground-motion sensors and other data and have an approved plan to shut down if earthquakes induced by the drilling are too powerful. Companies must also file estimates of expected earthquake activity and submit project proposals to outside experts for a review of the risks and the likelihood of success…"


AZ BLDG SUN, WORRYING ABT WATER
Amid state's push for solar power, water-supply worries arise
Shaun McKinnon, January 17, 2010 (The Arizona Republic)

"Arizona can offer solar-energy developers legendary sun-drenched skies and thousands of empty square miles but not nearly so ample a supply of a third essential resource…Water.

"As the state…[seeks] the jobs and tax revenue a vibrant solar industry would create, officials face a fundamental and all-too-familiar obstacle…Some of the most widely used and economical solar-energy technologies require significant amounts of water, as much as or more than the coal, natural-gas or nuclear power plants the solar projects are meant to replace…Yet the sites most attractive for solar plants…are also some of the hottest, driest parts of Arizona…Should Arizona support a renewable resource with one that is finite?…Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., warns that an uninformed embrace of solar power could threaten the state's already uncertain water resources. But others say the conflict is not so clear-cut. Solar energy's benefits - a free fuel source, no air pollution, no hazardous waste - could still balance or even outweigh its demand for water."

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"…Stung by the real-estate crash, [Mojave County] officials rolled out a red-carpeted welcome to several large solar projects that could help the state make deep inroads in fulfilling its solar-energy promise…[F]our projects have been proposed, and two are on the regulatory fast track and could begin generating power within two or three years.

"The first two plants could require more than 1.5 billion gallons of groundwater annually…as much as a city the size of Kingman, population 27,000, requires in a year…[P]hotovoltaic arrays can't yet fill large electricity demands cheaply, so most of the big solar projects proposed in Arizona would operate with a technology called concentrating solar…It uses the sun's energy to create steam that turns turbines to generate electricity, much as traditional power plants do. Water is needed to produce steam and cool the system afterward…The water used for steam can be reused, but much of the rest is lost to evaporation…"

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"…[A]reas most at risk of running short of water, including much of southern and central Arizona, match up closely with the areas where solar-power projects are expected to develop…Some planned projects…would be built on land once used for agriculture, often atop deep aquifers. Water is already available - as groundwater rights belong to the landowner - and in most cases, the plants would consume less than the farms they replace…[S]uch a reallocation of water from farms to solar power represents a wise choice for Arizona…[Treated effluent and recirculated wastwewater could also help somewhat and a shift to dry cooling technology is the long-term solution]…

"…[But] projects staked out on parcels of untouched public lands, where the only source of water is aquifers whose amounts of water are either unknown or difficult to measure [like the Mojave projects would be bad choices for use with current water cooling technology]… Mohave County officials say the power plants pose no threat to the region's drinking-water supplies…With few exceptions, state water laws would not prevent a solar-power plant from pumping the groundwater aquifers around it. State regulators hope they can encourage energy providers to build [wisely]…[T]he demand for solar power has grown in recent years, fed in part by local, state and federal tax breaks…[and an RES requiring] utilities to obtain a minimum of 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025…"